Ex-MK man jailed for rape bid and murder
By Cecile Greyling
Source: The Herald Online
Grahamstown – Unemployed former Umkhonto we Sizwe sergeant-major Mzimkhulu Jam, 33, has been jailed for 26 years for the rape and murder under an Eastern Cape bridge of hospital cleaner Nosipho Vika, 21, of Quigney, East London.
Earlier in his trial, Jam confessed to throttling to death and raping Miss Vika on July 21, 2001, near the N6 between Stutterheim and Cathcart.
On Friday, Judge Eric Leach sentenced Jam to 20 years for murder, 10 years for attempted rape and three years for theft of her cellphone. However, five years of the attempted rape sentence and two years of the theft sentence will run concurrently.
The judge said it was “extremely fortunate” for Jam that the State could not prove that Miss Vika was still alive when he raped her, as this would have evoked a heavier sentence.
Delivering sentence, the judge said he wanted men to know that they could not pick up girls and “just have their way with them”.
Prosecutor Graham Bursey had called for the minimum life sentence, but Judge Leach said the State had not proved that Jam had the direct intention of killing Miss Vika. The State could also not prove she had been alive when she was raped, which technically constituted attempted rape.
A week after Nosipho disappeared, her mother Xoliswa made a heartfelt plea on radio for help, and for Nosipho to come back home. Her body was found three days later.
The judge accepted Jam’s confession, in which he said Nosipho had escaped from his car window and rolled down an embankment. When she refused him sex, he throttled her. – ECN
